HOW-TO: Medusa Bendies

Here it is! A first from Quintessential Shop Manila!

As promised, here are ways how you can rock the Medusa Bendies!

ON YOUR HAIR

TWISTED NECKLACE

ARM CUFF - my personal favorite!

[PHOTOS: Maine Aquino for Quintessential Shop Manila]

Be one of the first to rock this versatile piece of accessory. Adds instant glam even if you're just wearing a jeans-and-shirt combo. And it challenges your creativity! The more twisted it gets, the better :)

I haven't worn mine yet but after seeing Maine's how-to I'm excited to try out the last one! 

For more ideas, and to order you own Medusa Bendies, visit Quintessential Shop Manila on Facebook.

*Pure coincidence: Maine was born on the Year of the Snake! 

<3

Narnia!

Who knew Narnia would be just an hour away from home?

It's no closet but for sure when you come back from there your closet [or drawer, or jewelry case] will be happy and your wallet, not.

Maine and I finally got to visit ze magical place!

First up: Bunny case vs. Hello Kitty case

For the loooongest time we both wanted the Bunny case for our phones. Mahal lang talaga! It's P250 at St Francis Square last I checked. The one we saw today was just at P100! Almost bought it but since we were trying to practice 'self-control' we went around more stalls and found a reaaaaaaally cute Hello Kitty case ... for iPhone 4s. HANEP. Masama na talaga loob namin since all cases [Cath Kidston, Kate Spade, Dior] were all for iPhones! One Dragon Dance and three stalls after, TADA!

Proud ako sa pinaglaban namin ni Maine! No amount of squealing can express how happy we are! 

Then Maine led me to two stores store where all caution, self-control and reasoning were thrown to the wind. If you've gone shopping with me you would know there is no accessory that I say no to, especially if I have the means to buy it [aka if it's payday, someone's buying it for me, or really affordable!] 

To say I went cray-cray is an understatement:

Trust me it's hard to sort through everything that I stashed in my basket! Ang bigat sa loob magbalik ... I wanted to buy them all!  [Is that such a bad thing, though?!]

I'm not a ring person because all the ones I like are either too tight or too loose. On the rare occasions that I do buy/wear a ring, it has to be the adjustable kind. Imagine my delight when a non-adjustable ring [the one with the animal print stone] fit right into my ring finger! The ring/earring set was also a steal at way less than P100! The price tag on the other pair of earrings will make you believe I got these three accessories at just a little over P100 :)

BRACELETS. You have no idea how many of them can be found in my room! The problem with me is whenever I buy a new one, I tend to forget to wear the previous ones I bought. So what I'm doing now is dig up long-forgotten bracelets and start wearing them again. But I guess I have to forget that practice with all these new babies I got! 

I personally love the tiger cuff because it's my Chinese zodiac, I love over-sized bracelets, and it looks so fierce when worn. It's just coincidental that I got animal print bangles as well kasi pag si Maine kasama mo, she'll choose whatever is with animal print. Haha! The leather cuff is for an officemate who asked a favor for me to buy her one, but I got the silver metallic one for myself. The store actually does personalized bracelets [think Eiko] but you can buy the strap as is for just a little more than P20. 

These are the best steals of the day! I know, they look like snakes and you're going "WTF?!" Haha! Just looking at them makes me shiver, too! Lakas maka-Medussa!


[EDIT: A 'How-To' for this Medussa necklace is coming soon, courtesy of Quintessential Shop Manila!] 

It's actually a necklace that can be 'folded' into a bangle. Adds instant glam to a rather dull outfit.

Since it's Chinese New Year on Monday, I think it's the perfect time to wear these Chinese zodiac bracelets.

You see these charms being sold at kiosks in malls [way overpriced, really] but what made me buy it there was because they perform a certain 'ritual' on the bracelets, which is supposed to energize them and 'activate' the luck the charms are supposed to bring. 

You buy the bracelet then they take it from you and give you a number so you can claim it at the cashier after you pay for it along with the other stuff you bought. Then you go back to one of the Ates who's carrying a sort of mortar and pestle and ask her to 'gong' the bracelet. Put it in the bowl and she'll do circular motions of the pestle around the bowl and tap the four sides after. She'll ask you to pick it up with your left hand because she can't - I repeat - CAN'T do it herself as this will 'interrupt' the vibes of the ritual. Also, if you're going to give it to someone [as my case since I bought one for Mama], only you and the recipient can touch the bracelet.

Yes it sounds crazy [ang hirap i-explain nung ritual, ha!] but there are Chinese/Feng Shui ways that I believe in. Maybe the rose quartz will work, right Maine? ;) Very 'My Binondo Girl' lang ang peg!

In just two hours I felt like I bought more than a week's worth of accessories. I swear the office might come up with a 'no over-sized accessories rule' already! 

Maine and I enjoyed too much that we forgot to eat and go on a restroom break. Gano'n kami ka-saya! 

The last time I went there was when I was still a kid, believe it or not! Definitely the best finds are in the places you never thought you'd find them in, it just takes curiosity and a great shopping buddy to discover them!

<3

Tresses in distress

My hair is at the longest it's ever been.

I've always wanted long, cascading locks like Ashley Benson's and Blake Lively's, but cutting it always gets the better of me.

Not to totally brag or anything, but ever since I started resisting the urge to chop it, I've gotten compliments on how longer hair suits me better. There are still mornings that I get stressed when I see how unruly it looks, but I've come to appreciate the "magulo" look as time went on.

Cut to today, a lazy Sunday and I flip the TV open to an episode of Mega Young Designers 2012. Meryll Yan, one of the judges and editor for the magazine chopped her hair into a bob. I saw her during the launch of Megastyle.ph and her hair was up in an intricate braid, so imagine my surprise when I saw her sporting a bob.

I couldn't get the cut out of my mind so I Googled for her photo just now.

That's her in the middle. [I forgot where I grabbed this photo. If you happen to see this entry and you took/own this photo, do tell me!]

Then this was how she looked during Mega's 10 Most Beautiful

She curled it! So my ambitions to curl my hair has hope!

You have no idea how much I wanted to head to Menage in Trinoma to have my hair cut today! Buti na lang my stylist times off at 7pm - in short, hindi ko siya aabutan! But I swear this Saturday my hair will be shedding some inches :)

<3

Decem-blur, etc.

I know, I know. The Irresponsible Blogger of the Year should be given to me. I'm sorry! Work caught up with me! Not that I'm losing sleep over it but when I get home all I really want to do is hit the sack.

I guess it's obvious I'm cramming this obligatory year-end post! [EDIT: We're into the second week of the year already! Laziest blogger ever talaga!]

In just a few hours 2011 is coming to a close. One of the best things that happened to me in 2011 was being blessed with good friends that tagged me along their trip to Boracay prize. It was my first (hopefully not the last) time in the island and to say that I enjoyed the trip is an understatement.

I also got to work with who I'd like to call my 'Dream Team' - people I'd pick if given the chance to choose who I want to work with. 

The food trips I miss the most! From McDonald's to Aysee's, Sambokojin and of course, Happy Lemon! 

My 25th birthday was a total blur but I got to share the stage with Daniel Matsunaga when I impromptu-hosted an event in September.

Towards the end of the year the fangirl and blogger in me resurfaced because of the Azkals and events I went to. I have yet to watch a live Azkals game [gotta make this happen this year!] with Maine and Ishi!

Meeting Laureen Uy was also officially crossed off my bucket list! 

Christmas wouldn't be the same if I didn't [legally] gatecrash BusinessWorld's Editorial party! I won an iPod Touch in the raffle two years ago, and this year they gave away an iPhone 4S!!! Bongga lang! Sad I had to leave even before the party started, but I was making chika with Bernie, one of my closest friends from there and Jeff, one of the editors and we all agreed that Editorial gives the best party ever. I mean, there are roughly 40 people included in the raffle and EACH NAME gets called out to win something - CDs, bags, planners - the raffle actually lasts for six rounds! 

Ernie was also here for the holidays! Catching up with everyone felt so good considering I had to prepare for a nerve-wracking day the next day! 

The biggest surprise though was the end of 2011. I never thought I'd enjoy this place as much as I do. Cheers to new friends, getting drunk every other Friday, and stressing out to meet 2 CPH [for now]!

There came a point in my life that I dreaded waking up in the morning for the simple fact that I had to work. I was not used to not looking forward to mornings. My self-esteem was at an all-time low and there was not a single saving grace to make it all worth it.  

But now I'm back. I don't hate the weekend for being so short anymore. It feels good to talk to ACTUAL people [I'm inclined to think I dealt with robots before] who get what I'm saying [jokes, bekinese, etc.] and vice versa. 

To sum up 2011:

"Some of the ugliest endings have sparked beautiful beginnings. Never be afraid to keep moving forward."